Habitat for Humanity and Lowe’s team up for National Women Build Week

Approximately 30 volunteered this week including Lowe’s Heroes employee volunteers, on an Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity construction site in recognition of National Women Build Week, May 3-11.

Now in its seventh year, National Women Build Week challenges women to devote at least one day to help build affordable housing in their local communities. The week also spotlights the homeownership challenges faced by women.

“Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build just makes good sense, the program recruits, educates and inspires women to build and advocate for simple, decent and affordable housing in their community!” said Lisa L. Circle, Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity and local Real Estate Sales Agent.

The volunteers worked to build interior walls for the sixth of seven homes that will make up Summer Elms Town House Development on Tuckahoe Road in White Sulphur Springs.

Lowe’s helped launch National Women Build Week in 2008 and each year provides the support of Lowe’s Heroes and conducts how-to clinics at stores to teach volunteers construction skills. Lowe’s donated $1.75 million to this year’s National Women Build Week, including a $5,000 store gift card to Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity, as part of a new five-year partnership with Habitat that will bring Lowe’s total contributions to more than $63 million since 2003. In celebration of this renewed partnership, Lowe’s and Habitat launched Hammers for Habitat, a volunteer initiative inviting men and women across America to give one day to help make the dream of homeownership a reality for a family in their community. To learn more, visit Habitat.org/Lowes.

“As part of National Women Build Week, we’re encouraging women across America to raise a hammer to help create safe and affordable housing in partnership with local families,” said Joan Higginbotham, Lowe’s director of community relations. “We thank our Lowe’s Heroes and the thousands of volunteers who will help strengthen communities throughout the country this week.”

The U.S. Census Bureau reports more than 16.1 million children are living in poverty in the United States. Nearly 24 percent of children reside with women heads-of-household. In Greenbrier County more than 19 percent of families are in need of affordable housing.

Habitat’s Women Build program recruits, educates and inspires women to build and advocate for simple, decent and affordable homes in their communities. Since the program was created in 1998, more than 2,200 homes have been built in partnership with low-income families using Women Build crews. More than 52,000 women from all 50 states have volunteered at the six previous Women Build Week events.

For more information on Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program, and to learn about Women Build projects in communities across the U.S., visit Habitat.org/wb or the National Women Build Week tab on http://www.facebook.com/habitat.

Lowe’s, a FORTUNE 100 home improvement company, has a 50-year legacy of supporting the communities it serves through programs that focus on K-12 public education and community improvement projects. Since 2007, Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation together have contributed nearly $200 million to these efforts, and for more than two decades Lowe’s Heroes employee volunteers have donated their time to make our communities better places to live. To learn more, visit Lowes.com/SocialResponsibility and LowesInTheCommunity.tumblr.com.